Processes are known which produce an alkylbenzene hydroperoxide from an alkylbenzene as a starting material by oxidizing the alkylbenzene with an oxygen-containing gas. However, it is known that phenols present in an alkylbenzene act as oxidation inhibitors, thereby impeding efficient progress of the oxidation reaction. Thus, to obtain a desired alkylbenzene hydroperoxide, such a problem has been usually dealt with by raising the reaction temperature or increasing the reaction time.
Several processes are described in Patent Document 1 in which the concentration of phenols in an alkylbenzene is decreased and the alkylbenzene with the decreased concentration of phenols is oxidized with an oxygen-containing gas. The processes, described in the above document, of decreasing the concentration of phenols are: to let phenols out from the system by distillation, alkali washing or the like; to convert phenols into some other compounds through an appropriate reaction; and to decrease the concentration of phenols using an adsorbent or the like. These processes, however, require additional equipment, such as a distillation column, a washing container, a reactor or an adsorption column, and are problematic in that they are not satisfactory from the viewpoint of economical and high-yield production of alkylbenzene hydroperoxides.
[Patent Document 1] JP 2001-270880 A